The Japan Post group will again postpone the resumption of sales activities for Japan Post Insurance Co. (Kampo), sources said Friday. The insurance subsidiary had suspended sales until the end of this month while administrative punishments were carried out, but will now put off the resumption until April or later.
The Japan Post group is prioritizing investigations into improper sales methods of Kampo insurance products and the thorough implementation of measures to prevent the problem recurring.
The group will ask an outside expert panel, which will be set up in April, to offer advice about when and how Kampo sales should be resumed.
Hiroya Masuda, president of Japan Post Holdings Co., will explain the decision when he holds a press conference later this month.
Concerning improper actions in obtaining contracts for Kampo insurance policies, the Financial Services Agency and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry ordered Japan Post Co. and Kampo to suspend their sales of insurance policies.
The company has only been taking applications for new contracts at the request of people wanting to buy insurance policies.
According to the sources, Masuda and other Japan Post group executives will ask the newly established expert panel to conduct investigations and assess how measures to prevent a recurrence have progressed.
The executives will decide the details of when and how sales will be resumed based on the panel's opinions.
At previous press conferences, Masuda had said that they were "still not at a stage where we can consider" resumption.
It is likely that more time is necessary to complete investigations into the improper sales methods and for the employees involved to be punished under internal rules.
Confirming the intentions of the more than 210,000 policy holders who are suspected to have suffered damage is assumed to take until June. Punishments will be completed for employees who conducted the sales activities in violation of the law or in-house rules in April or later.
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